Indian Pond Heron

I've previously posted on the Indian pond heron which we saw in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka we saw it in both breeding plumage (which is beautiful) and non-breeding plumage. In a visit to Kaziranga NP in Assam, India, in December 2024, we only saw them in non-breeding plumage, but we did see them with out-stretched necks which we had not seen in Sri Lanka. 

This illustration of the Indian pond heron from Birds of the World shows how beautiful the breeding plumage is. The illustration below shows it in flight. 

This range map from Birds of the World shows that both Sri Lanka and northeastern India have the Indian pond heron year-round. 

It looks like a completely different birds with its neck out-stretched. This and the next two were seen in the Western Range of Kaziranga.

In the Burhapahar Range of Kaziranga.

In the Eastern Range of Kaziranga.